A Day in the Life: Natascha Zeljko (Corona Special)

Since Corona, Our Lives Have Turned 180 Degrees. Read This Piece by our Editor-in-Chief

by Natascha Zeljko | 09 Dec, 2020

Have you been wondering what happened to the ‘A Day in The Life’ series? Well, Corona came around. The last (‘normal’) episode was delivered by the great Valerie Mocker. Since then, our lives have turned 180 degrees. So, here is a special: ‘A Day in the Corona Life’ by our editor-in-chief Natascha Zeljko

07.00 – 08.00

Get up, shower, take the dog outside. Put on the jeans from yesterday, the day before yesterday and the day before, because: Zoom doesn’t care.

08.00 – 09.00

Checking e-mails, checking Google Analytics, checking new Corona infection numbers (damn, still high), checking calendar (damn, still overloaded). Quick make-up before important Zoom calls. Dog becomes suspicious, because in pre-corona times, make-up meant leaving home. Dog confused, but happy that you only reach your desk.

09.00 – 09.30

First check-in call with team. Discuss tasks and to-dos.

09.30– 10.00

First zoom call. The complete repertoire of phrases from ‘Can you hear me’ to ‘You were just frozen’. Which is, of course, trivial. Please read on anyway. Because what we actually want to say: ‘I can’t hear myself anymore.’ And: ‘I feel socially frozen.’

11.00 – 12.00

Working on articles, preparing social media posts. Making editorial plans. In between, catching yourself making plans for life after Corona. Plan on throwing a big gathering and celebrating like a party animal, even though prior to Corona, you never looked more forward to the sofa and Netflix.

12.00 – 13.00

In the third zoom call. Ever since you’ve been sitting in your home office, it seems that many people no longer have a lunch break. Whatever is available (theoretically) does not exist. A paradox à la Schrödinger’s cat. We all know it.

13.00 – 14.00

Quick late lunch. Take-away. Again, too busy (in truth: Too lazy) to cook by yourself.

14.00 – 15.00

The parents call.
“What are you doing?”
“Working.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, right.”
“How’s business?”
“Can we talk later?”
“What time?”
“Tonight.”
“But you are home.”

Open the folder with holidays pictures (Corsica, 2014). Fight the tears and a very bad mood. Put make-up on. Off to the next call.

15.00 – 16.00

In the call. Or something like that. WLAN wobbles. Stare at a static screen. Moving the mouse hectically (Again, having the crazy idea to bring people back to life by ‘mouse-over’.) WLAN gives up completely. Dial in again. With a 15-minute delay, the call can be started after all. Being interrupted three times by parcel carriers (for the neighbors).

16.00 – 17.00

Writing offers. Checking e-mails. Reading newsletter. Making tea. And then you realize that you don’t feel like drinking another cup of tea. Make tea anyway. Because the cup reads ‘Stay Calm and Drink Tea’, loosely adapted from Churchill. So: Carry on.

17.00 – 18.00

Last meeting with the team. Calls are through, the parcel carriers are gone, WLAN too, but that doesn’t matter now. Finally, in peace and quiet, a few concepts can be written. Take a look at the half-full bag of chips and consider whether a glass of red wine is an okay idea, because Corona has different rules.

19.00 – 20.30

Bag of chips is empty. Red wine number 2 in progress. Work is done for today (in reality, of course, you never get it done). But let’s call it a day.

20.30 – 22.00

Dinner with hubby. Netflix shows with the dog. Just reading a few tweets before going to sleep. Not being able to fall asleep. Reading more tweets. Arguing with hubby about using cell phone in bed. Put the mobile away, then secretly switch it on again. Reading a few tweets. Whaaaat, already 0:45 o’clock????